TS A+ Ride Guide

[Plawless]

So in the interest of making sure that we all have a good quality ride and so as to ensure that we are all on the "same" ride I thought it might be good to remind the A+ riders that the A+ rides are NOT a race. It is not about dropping people or about crossing the "finish line" first. The point to these is to work as a group but work hard. Basically its no different than any other TS ride except its a paceline the whole time (and guys that get shelled can get picked up by the next pack). The purpose is to get a hard workout in. It is not about "winning" the sprint.

I think it might be a good idea to remind the A+'s that the point is to work....hard. So maybe if you are going to contest the sprint make sure that you have been doing your bit at the front as well. If it was a race then its totally cool to sit in and then sprint. But this isnt a race and we dont want people bringing "racing attitudes" into our awesome, fun club rides. So if you are sitting in - dont sprint. If you find yourself at the front with 400m to go - hey lead it out. If you are pulling through go ahead and have a stab at the "win" but this ride isnt about the "win" its about the work to get to the end...... and about the coffee

On that point I also note that I have heard more praise directed at people that have put in monstrous pulls, who have broken other people's spririts, who have rode hard than I have ever heard about who happened to cross "the line" first..... glory is in the effort not the result young jedi...

Basically lets all make sure that we dont turn into Burnside or the fast OBB ride - there is a reason most of us dont go on those rides.......

[Josh.E]

I think pointless attacks off the front by small groups should also be encouraged, the earlier the better. If you want to break off the front solo, or with 1 or 2 other guys on an attack that is most likely doomed to fail.....all the more motivation for the chasing pack to work well together to reel you back in.

[Lister Farrar]

I think pointless attacks off the front by small groups should also be encouraged, the earlier the better. If you want to break off the front solo, or with 1 or 2 other guys on an attack that is most likely doomed to fail.....all the more motivation for the chasing pack to work well together to reel you back in.

Thanks for posting Pete, I think these are good guidelines to go by.

I think I get the spirit of the suggestion Josh, but jumping does tend to break up things at the back of the group, not the front. I know, it seems like one or two guys going off the front, but the progessively increasing hesitations, then accelerations, magnifies as it goes down the line. Some call it the rubber band effect. The Mt. D- Mattick's farm scramble on Sundays splits at the back, not the front, and, I think, compromises the weaker riders' strength for the rest of the ride; they only have so many matches to burn. The strong guys could have just as good a workout winding it up gradually and pulling, and they wouldn't be gapping the back guys. Might be different if a strong guy was helping out at the back. If you mean spotting two guys 15 seconds, then chasing, then that's different, and I'll shut up now...

[Josh.E]

I think the spirit of what Peter is saying is that yes, we do want to shell people off the back on the "A+" ride. We want to do that by ensuring everyone in the front is working their asses off contributing to the pace the entire ride, and not sitting in, conserving energy and waiting for beacon hill park to be first to the line, as that is not the point.

Mandating pacelines won't work, as they always travel at the speed of the weakest rider in the bunch, and there will always be someone who is "sitting in"

Maybe we can give out a "biggest sandbagger" award every morning at coffee. ......definitely not to be confused with anyone sitting on the back of the lead group working their asses off trying desparately trying not to get dropped.

EDIT:
I just had another thought. An interesting way to do this would be to make this ride a big team time trial. The point of the ride would be to work together to see how fast the group can get the first rider to the finish in beacon hill. It could start on Ash and we could record times. Once group records are established, we could try to break them. It would be pretty fun to blow yourself up and get spit off the back if you knew you were contributing to the "all time record"

[Kevin F]

I am just a rookie so I may be totally out to lunch ... but I thought a Time Trial the whole group has to come in and it is the last riders time that is counted. That would keep everyone together ...if that was the intent.

[Josh.E]

The intent of the "A+" ride is not (or hasn't been up until now) "no drop". It's the "slit your friend's throats" training ride. The "A" ride and the "B" ride are both no drop (until king george)

Usually in a team time trial it will be the time of one of the riders across the line, not the last rider. In a 4 man team, they usually measure the time of the 3rd rider. In an 8 man team, usually the 5th rider.
Part of the strategy is using up people's energy working over their limits and them dropping them off the back in order to get the timed rider over the line in the fastest possible time.

There is no way a single rider would be able to set as good a time as a group working together, so only by working together are we going to beat the record as it starts to get established. The strongest few remaining riders go for the time at the end, and everybody gets in a really hard workout (the intent) with a fun common goal.

[AdamD]

Also, if people have the desire to race the best thing to do would be to come out to the Victoria Cycling League races on Wednesday nights friendly but still competitive